The
Day I ate whatever I wanted:
and other small acts of liberation
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From
Publishers Weekly
In this collection of mostly uplifting stories, Berg (Dream When You're
Feeling Blue) explores the everyday challenges that women face.
Whether teenaged or octogenarian, Berg's heroines brave the emotional
landmines underlying domestic scenes (from holiday dinner parties to
visiting family), navigate the slippery slope of constant dieting and
address the process of aging. The title story features an unnamed,
insouciant narrator who flees from a Weight Watchers meeting and allows
herself to indulge her most fattening food cravings. In Full Count, an
introspective army brat begins to decipher what she looks like to others.
The wistful and nostalgic Rain features a woman reminiscing about a good
friend who dropped his successful corporate life to live closer to nature.
Berg's men are surprisingly supportive and well behaved; it is often the
women in these stories who manipulate and mistreat their partners. The
protagonist of Truth or Dare, for example, struggles to accept that her
ex-husband moved on after she left him. Berg has a knack for sentimental
but authentic stories about women who find affirmation in true-to-life
situations, and if her endings are slightly predictable, it's in a good
way, like comfort food that never disappoints. (Apr.)
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Product Description
Exhilarating short stories of women breaking free from convention
Every now and then, right in the middle of an ordinary day, a woman
rebels, kicks up her heels, and commits a small act of liberation.
What would you do, if you were going to break out and away? Go AWOL from
Weight Watchers and spend an entire day eating every single thing you
want–and then some? Start a dating service for people over fifty to
reclaim the razzle-dazzle in your life–or your marriage? Seek comfort in
the face of aging, look for love in the midst of loss, find friendship in
the most surprising of places?
Imagine that the people in these wonderful stories–who do all of these
things and more–are asking you: What would you do, if nobody was
looking?
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